Stahle: Cyber schools deserve funding

It must be fun to work in your pajamas. People think thatís really what I do. In actuality, I teach at a cyber charter school; one where families choose how and where to educate their children.

My work day, which really never ends when you have a computer sitting by your side 24/7, starts around 6:30 a.m. and ends, well, it doesnít.

Iím always online because I work with teenagers, nocturnal mammals, and they donít come to life until after the sun sets.

After 10-plus years in a brick and mortar high school, I wanted to make an actual difference in the lives of my students so I opted for school choice.

I teach teenagers who have experienced unthinkable bullying, unsafe schools, apathetic teachers, or have somehow not succeeded in a traditional school building.

They often battle illnesses and/or poverty, but mainly they choose a cyber charter school because they just want to learn.

Many times my students come to me so deficient in basic literacy skills that I have years of educational gaps to fill before they can handle my rigorous curriculum.

Cyber schools donít make AYP on the all-powerful state tests critics shout from the mountaintops.

Honestly, not all of my students will make AYP because the skill gaps they come to me with are so great.

Traditional schools failed them, and Iím given 18 weeks to fix years of missteps. Where lays the fairness in providing a quality education because this child has been left behind? But after 18 weeks with me, that child will read, write and think better.

He may not be able to bubble in a state issued test sheet, but heíll be able to contribute to society. What matters more?

This past semester I had the honor to teach an 11th grader with autism. His mother told me that brick and mortar schools couldnít teach him. They shuttled him off into the far reaches of the school, out of sight and out of mind.

Matt was intelligent, creative, insightful but quirky.

Traditional school had put a deep-seeded fear of writing into this young man so strong that crafting a sentence was akin to inflicting torture upon him. We worked in class, during tutoring sessions, through email and Matt felt safe to take risks.

By the end of the semester, he wrote an incredible, fully cited and properly formatted 9 page research paper. This was his work, not mine.

All I did was teach him the fundamentals of writing, researching and critical thinking in a way that made sense to him. Interpersonal skills stymied Matt but at a National Honor Society meeting, Matt ran up and gave me a hug and his mom took photos galore of the two of us together; teacher and student.

Will Matt pass the state writing test where he has to respond to a prompt directing him to describe or persuade about some random topic ? Probably not. But can he write a college level analytical essay? He can now because he possesses critical writing and research skills that require him to synthesize information on a higher level then bring meaning to it. All because of school choice.

I have so many stories like Mattís from my two years teaching in a cyber charter school. Some of my students are quite simply brilliant and unchallenged in a brick and mortar.

I have them write college level literary criticisms (not the standard high school lit analysis) on books that should be well beyond their years for understanding. We debate Puritan and Enlightenment time periods with passion and intensity then discuss how those value systems have been lost in todayís society. Thatís not on the state test but these discussions bring relevance to today and the world in which we live.

And donít get me started on bullying. Kids should be able to attend school without being harassed.

Period. School choice not only keeps my kids alive, it allows them to heal, flourish and rediscover themselves after being verbally and sometimes physically defeated. My kids are given that second chance due to school choice.

So now our legislature wants to cut school funding for charter schools and cybers in particular.

Iím not going to state that a cyber education is the best choice for everyone.

But it is for so many children who donít receive the challenges, opportunities, support and care that a cyber school can provide. As a single parent, I only worked one job when I taught in a brick and mortar school.

Now, I work 2 jobs and barely make ends meet. I knew that because of lower school funding models for charter schools, that my salary would never be equal to my brick and mortar colleagues.

For a master teacher, with over 10 years of experience, 4 professional teaching certifications and multiple M.Ed. degrees, itís a bit demoralizing when I realize that I could flip burgers, work less and make an equivalent salary to what I do now.

But I teach at a cyber school because I can. And I want to. I will do whatever I need to in order for a child to soar. If funding is cut, teachers like me who create success stories for students who have never felt a positive affirmation in a brick and mortar school, will throw in the towel, leave education and give up. Because like many of my studentsí families, I have a mortgage and a child to support and I can only stretch and bend so far.

If funding is cut, only the newest of teachers, those with the least amount of experience, will be able to work in cyber charter schools.

Our students come to us with great needs and a new teacher, no matter how talented, just doesnít have the experience yet.

How does that benefit our children?

If funding is cut, children in Pennsylvania will lose an incredible opportunity to thrive in an innovative environment, using 21st century skills to educate our future leaders.

Come watch me teach a future leader then tell me that they donít deserve this opportunity, this school choice.

If you would like to comment on this story, you may reach Cheryl Stahle at cherylstahle@gmail.com or at www.yourbestwritinggroup.com .